The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1887-06-14
THE PARIS THEATRE HORROR.
A Glance at the Victims of the Opera
Comique Holocaust.

Paris Letter to London Truth.
All along the Boulevards, from the Made
leine to the Chateau d'Eau, there is a block
of carriages, private and hired One stream
OF wheeled vehicles goes from the west TO the
purlieus Of the Opera Comique, and the other
from the east. The Princess Hohenlohe,
who has passion for strong drama, whether
1t is to be found in the ASsiZe Courts, the
streets, or at the theatres, has hurried here
from Alsace to be in the swim of tout lie
monde, and to enjoy good, rousing sensa-
ton. The finest folks, no less than the com
monest wretches, have been in the queues
before the improvised mortuaries, which are
nothing less than chambers of horror-so
horrible that Grevin's most gruesome wax
works may hide their diminished heads
Ever since Wednesday night streams of
people-some of whom are habitual idlerS,
but most of whom have forsaken work to
satisfy curiosity-have flowed sluggishly
and steadily along the different streets that
debouch on the Opera Comique; but none
of them could get so far as that, lines of
policemen having barred the way against
all who had not passes from the Prefecture.
Being on good terms with the Project, |
was able to run this police blockade and to
get Colonel of the Fire Brigade to take me
over the ruins There was in them a silent
eloquence that was nothing less than appal-
Ing IsNGl oSIlSe, Save ULt dtllllIlNt one, was
startled beyond endurance. You felt as if
in steam bath. Though
fourteen engines had been at
work for several days, the fire was not
quite out, and you might have roasted eggs
in the black rubbish, it was so hot. The
pungent odor of charcoal took away ones
BREATH and made one feel dizzy and as if
lead and not brains were in ones skull.
Elsewhere-pardon my realism-there was
a strong and, under the circumstances,
sickening smell of roasted meat when | was
on the theatre of the great fire of Wednes-
day night. 1t was Sui generiS. suppose
cannibal would have been delighted ''rhere
must said the Colonel, ''be deep strata of
victims here, this gridiron scent is so strong.
But we CAN'T be in any haste to dig them
out; the building is too shalky to NEEDLE
with the fallen rafters here unless in the
most cautious way" One did not much
discern CLEARINGHOUSE smells. This is be-
cause of the mass of charcoal in which the
unfortunates who met fiery death We're
imbedded
1t was only when one got near one of the
few boxes which remained that the nostrils
were dreadfully offended. Look up there"
said the Colonel. l did as he told me- and
beheld in a box that held on, as if by mira
Gle, to the wall, three ladies with blackened
viSages. One was in black velvet An
other had a jet cuirasS. The third was in
pink and white, and had flowers in a mass
of frizzed fair hair Her mouth was opened
as if gasping for breath; the lips were
greatly curled back; and two rows of white,
even teeth We're laid bare. The others leant
back i'll their chairs quite quietly, and one of
them held fan on the ledge of the box
They formed the most awful sight think |
ever gazed upon. The probability is that,
| despairing of escaping in the fearful torrent
| of human beings which tore in the dark
| along corridors and stairs, they returned to
their seats and quietly waited to be burned
| or suffocated. Death came upon them in
| the form of suffocation. It was impossible,
| up to the time | saw them, to get near them,
and so they remained in their conspicuous
| position for several days. Who these ladies
are nobody has an idea.
The freaks of the fire at the Opera Comique
were very odd. Thus press doors were
burned away in the wardrobe room, and the
costumes hanging in the racks were in many
instances hardly injured Black must be
greatly the fashion, although there is no
| court anywhere in mourning. All the seven
ladies who were found in a cluster We're in
| arrangements of the color dear to Whistler
l cannot think in virtue of what law they
got together, for they were clearly not re-
! lated, and the dressmakers' stamps on the
inner belts of their corsages were in no two
cases the same
An English artist whom l took to the
mortuary was struck with the elegance of
the gloves, the boots and shoes, and the
stockings. What struck me was the horri-
BILE mockery of fashion expressed in the
condition of the fashionably -attired bodies.
The quantity of jewels found was prodi-
OiOIS